On the 27th October the Omeo Historical Society and East Gippsland Shire Council held an event at the A M Pearson Historic
Park at Omeo to celebrate the occasion of the 150th of the Proclamation of the Shire of Omeo on 25th October 1872.
This event was also a time to celebrate the 50th of the Omeo Historical Society and around 80 members and friends of the
Society along with many community members attended the morning tea in the Civic Square before moving to the almost
finished "new", 1898 Courthouse which has been undergoing conservation works and as a result has a whole new look.
The "old" Courthouse is also almost finished but is delayed by persistent moisture issues that will be resolved soon.
We had many especially honoured guests including Peter and Lois Crisp. Lois is an original and still active member of the
Society and was first nominated as the representative for Swifts Creek on the first Community based Committee in 1973.
This followed from the first iteration of the Society as a subcommittee of councillors of the Shire of Omeo in 1963.
Her invitaion to one of the events of the 1972-3 celebration period is shown on the right.
Peter was an Omeo Shire Councillor for about 15 years and was on Council in 1973 when the 100th celebrations
were
held. Councillors had dressed in 1872 period costume for the 1973 occasion and Peter is shown in the photo below.
We were also greatly honoured to have June Soutter, daughter of A M Pearson , the former Omeo Shire President
after whom the Park is named. June assisted her father in writing "Echoes from the Mountains", the history of the
Omeo Shire in its first 100 years. June is centre, resting hand on stand.
Helen Shiel, our East Gippsland Shire Place manager took this image of the "new"
Courthouse and Civic Square on the evening of the 26th
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The morning started with a morning tea provided by the CWA who have such a strong association with the community.
The food was just fantastic and the scones were gone in no time, the sandwiches, fruit and cakes
delicious.
The weather was perfect, it was of course held in Civic Square with the CWA using the Shire Office deck.
East Gippsland Shire Council bought the Omeo Shire Mayoral Chain for the
event with a photo of the last Shire of Omeo Council in 1994.
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Debbie Squires from East Gippsland Family History Group knows the Courthouse well, her father was
stationed here and she remembers cleaning the Court to help her father before court was held.
Just setting up in the Court, the colour scheme is true to the Victorian Era and the conservators were able to determine that
these were the earliest colours used. The timber around the magistrates and clerk of courts stands have not had its final coat.
From left: Period Building Conservation workers, Society members, East Gippsland Shire officers
and our Local Shire Councillor, Sonia Buckley.
The colours in these two photos from different cxamers shows the difficulty of showing the true colour of the court online.
The background colour of this web page is pretty close to the soft gold that it is.
Left is Jo Lyngcoln from Heritage Victoria and on the right is Greg Owen of Period Building Conservation
who have undertaken all the work on our Courthouses. Greg was able to provide an interesting insight to the
building which is unusual and progressive in some of its design. Jo was able to explain the function of Heritage Victoria
as the overall responsible authority for this Heritage Listed building. (along with the other 4 buildings in the park.).
Omeo Historical Society president Graeme Deveson was the MC for the event and along with the audience had a great time.
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The court was packed as the saying goes----
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Ian Cameron and Jo Lyngcoln of heritage Victoria, Ian is the project manager for East Gippsland Shire Council for this project and his expertise has been vital to ensuring the best outcome for the buildings.
Greg Owen, conservator told the audience that the atmosphere with the early sun coming through the stained windows
(not vis) was just stunning. This image is not early morning but the light is still perfect.
This of course is the view from the Magistrates chair.
Well known Omeo resident Martin DeVries was fairly sure the magistrates chair and general commanding view
of the Court was something he could get used to-------------
Simon and Rowena Turner. Simon is well known for his role as president of the Mountain
Cattlemens Association for some years and Rowena is the grandaughter of A M Pearson.
